37. Family Activity

Riggs

Early that afternoon, in his workshop, Riggs stepped away from the arbor he was building to clean up because Nadia would be back soon.

But he stopped to take a beat and give his work a critical eye.

He'd thought it'd skew dark, considering all the shit that was hitting him while he made it. And dark wouldn't work for the prominent feature of a wedding venue.

It hadn't gone dark.

Not even close.

It had become something he made while Nadia was hanging on the couch in his workshop with him, and while Nadia and he were finding their ways to each other.

So.

"Damn," he muttered and moved to a workbench to open up his sketch pad and start drafting different arches, because he wasn't going to sell that one.

No fucking way.

He was going to install it at the trailhead that led to Nadia's cabin.

This meant he was way off schedule for the arbor for Pinetop, and he was going to have to bust his ass to make the date he gave them for installation.

A new design idea was coming to him when Gia got up off her belly, took a stance, and barked twice at the barn doors.

Riggs put his pencil down and watched her turn, lock eyes with him, circle back around and resume her stance, attention to the doors.

No wonder Maribeth knew she was giving clear warning, because that was precisely what she was doing.

He moved to within reaching distance of a crowbar just as Jess walked into the door.

Jess took one look at Gia, who was now growling, and stopped dead.

"Gia. Friend," Riggs commanded. Gia relaxed her stance, circled around to look at him again, and Riggs said, "Go."

She approached Jess.

Jess bent to offer his hand, and Riggs took a second to try to understand how he could tell the two brothers apart.

It boiled down to Jess having a cocky vibe, and Jace having a confident one.

Other than that, if you couldn't sense that nuance, you couldn't tell them apart.

Even so, those vibes were so strong, if you knew the men, you couldn't miss it.

This meant, if Roosevelt, Lincoln and Sarah were actually a thing, Riggs could see how it worked.

Kind of.

Rubbing Gia down, Jess noted, "Totally calling Hutch this afternoon. Gotta get me one of these babies."

"Highly recommend," Riggs replied.

After Jess gave Gia her rubdown, he asked, "Got a second to come with me? We found something and want to show you."

Riggs didn't know if this was good or bad.

Jess sensed that and went on. "Nothing big. But we got a take on it and want you to see it while we explain it to you. I'll drive you and bring you back."

"You good with Gia coming with?" Riggs asked.

Jess gave her another rubdown and answered, "Absolutely."

They left his workshop and piled in Jess's truck. Jess opened the back window for Gia, and she stuck her whole head out to feel the breeze. In that manner, he drove them to the access road and down to the end of it, which was right by the edge of the lake.

They got out and hiked into the woods at the north end about three hundred yards before they stopped.

Jace was in the distance. He had several small, orange flags on wire stands sticking out his back pocket. When he saw them, he pulled one out, planted it where he was and jogged their way.

Jesus, these two guys had it down.

Riggs gave the command to Gia so she wouldn't flip Jace out, and Jess showed him what they found.

It was a hole dug in the ground. Not deep, but it looked like an animal did it with their front paws, the soil flung back several feet from the hole. It also wasn't fresh, but who, or whatever dug that hole did it relatively recently.

Beside the hole was a rusted metal can, like one beans came in. No label.

He turned his attention to the twins. "They're using metal detectors."

The twins exchanged a glance and looked back to him.

Jace nodded. "You snapped to that quickly. And it was our take. People do metal detecting as a hobby. But they don't claw like a dog at what they found."

Riggs turned his attention to Gia.

She'd come to sit by his side and didn't seem to have any interest in the hole or the can.

She was trained to stick by her person, but he hadn't given her that command, so she was free to roam.

And if there was any residue of food left in that can—though, considering the state of it and its apparent age, that'd be impossible—he would suspect she'd have some interest. Even the hole, if it had the scent of an animal, might interest her. Enough she'd at least eye it.

She was squinting into the breeze and panting.

Because no animal had interest in metal.

And no animal clawed up that hole.

Jess piped up. "Called Harry. He's sending Sean out to take pictures and grab the can for evidence and printing. There's a lot of rust, not likely they'll get a hit, but they might. And anything they got could help them paint a picture."

"Right, thanks," Riggs replied.

"You came to the same conclusion we did right off, sorry I pulled you from work to look at this," Jess said.

"I'd wanna see it, so I'm not sorry. Glad you did and grateful you men are helping out," Riggs returned.

"Not a problem," Jace said, then on a nod, he took off with his flags.

Jess turned to him, but Riggs said, "Me and Gia will walk back. We can use the exercise."

Jess nodded too, and he turned to head toward Jace.

Riggs and Gia found the lake trail, and that was something else he needed to turn his attention to. His running was not going to keep it clear. And he'd wanted to edge the entirety of it with stone because it would look good. It'd also be an indication to people who weren't supposed to be there that someone maintained, thus owned that property, so if they missed the signs, they should take a hike.

He was momentarily indecisive about whether to take the east side, which had been crawled over in the last week by six people, or the west.

He chose west and kept his eyes peeled, but he didn't see anything.

He'd washed up and was in the kitchen, making himself a sandwich, when Nadia came in the door.

"Hey, honey," he called. "MB get off okay?"

"Yes," she replied, giving Gia her greeting before coming to the bar, tossing her purse on the end of it, then moving to him and tipping her head back.

He took the invitation and brushed his lips against hers.

She looked to the counter and requested, "Can I have one of those?"

In answer, Riggs reached for the bread.

She rounded the bar, hefted her ass on a stool and got right down to it.

"Okay, before you say anything, Maribeth lectured me halfway to Seattle. She's right, Harry's right, you're right, and I'll add, Gia was also right. That's why we got her. I need to let her do what she told me she needed to do. But I honestly did think it was just kids, especially since that one kid's dad is the kind of dad that isn't good with pointing out how life can teach you lessons, and you should learn them. I also got worried that I couldn't control her. Hutch said we may have graduated, but I need to keep up her training, at least an hour a day, so she stays sharp, and I can come to trust I have command of her."

She gave him that, Riggs didn't make a deal of it.

Instead, he said, "When I bring Ledge back from school, after his snack, I think we should all work with her."

For a beat, she seemed startled about that suggestion, then it hit her how important it would be, especially as things were now, that Gia was used to adhering to commands from all of them, and she nodded.

"I had a conversation with him this morning," Riggs began.

"I know. I'm back so I'm horning in on Riggs boy time again," she replied.

He took that to mean she knew she was staying, and he was pleased he didn't have to tangle with her about that.

"He doesn't think you're horning in, honey. He likes you. He likes me with you. He says I seem happier."

That alleviated her listless mood after taking her friend to the airport and having to deal with what she dealt with last night.

She smiled.

"I told him you're going to be here until all this shit is sorted, sleeping in my bed," Riggs shared. "And you'll be spending the night regularly, also in my bed, after it is."

Her expression shifted to concern. "That's fast, Riggs."

"He doesn't care, Nadia. He likes me happier, and you give that to me, so he's all in."

Her face got soft.

With that look on it, Riggs wished she was close enough to kiss, but she wasn't, so he kept assembling sandwiches and talking.

"I wanted him to go back to his mom's until this was all done, and he shared he doesn't feel safe with his mom for the sole reason that she leaves them with a seventeen-year-old babysitter all the time. He backed me into a corner about staying with us and not going to his gramme's instead, which I'm too humiliated he bested me to go into detail about."

That got him a wide grin.

He returned it and kept sharing.

"But it led me to the decision to be co-plaintiff with Storm and go for full custody. I already called him and my attorney. That's happening."

He probably shouldn't be surprised at how relieved she looked, but he was, and he realized how much she was holding back about her opinion of Angelica when she gave him that.

Riggs was happy she agreed, but he still asked, "Where does that reaction come from?" He put down the spreader he was using to add mayo to their sandwiches and lifted a hand her way at the careful expression that came over her face. "And don't give me all the stipulations about you not being in a position to judge. You're in this now, Nadia. You get to have an opinion."

It took her a second, but then she asked, "Have you and Ledger talked about chaos theory yet?"

"No."

"Have you told him that you're not going out of town for jobs for long periods of time anymore and that you're going for half custody?"

"Yeah."

She nodded and replied, "Okay, I'm still going to let him talk to you about what he told me, if that's in the cards for him. But with this latest from him, I think he's been trying to figure out how to be only with you for a while, without putting his mom in it."

When she told him that, Riggs decided he'd press her on this chaos theory business if Ledger didn't give it to him, because obviously, he needed to know what that shit was about.

But now, he was going to let it go.

Nadia kept talking.

"And from what you say, and what I've seen, she might love and care about her children, but she has no interest in being a mother. And although you and Storm are probably going to be facing lifelong issues with that with your children, because it hurts to have a parent who doesn't have any interest in being a parent?—"

Shit.

What was the matter with him?

He led her right to that place.

"Honey," he whispered.

She shook her head. "It's not about me, baby. I didn't live my whole life thinking my dad didn't have an interest in being a dad. This is about Ledger and Viggo, so even though you both are going to have to keep an eye on that, it's my opinion they're better off with one parent who loves them deeply, wants the best for them and offers guidance and support, than having to spend time with the other who keeps them fed, and clothed, and maybe loves on them some, but leaves them to do her own thing, which is more important to her than her children."

A vision assailed Riggs of a baby girl with blonde hair and blue eyes his son could watch over and Riggs could spoil the fuck out of.

"You really need to reconsider the having-kids thing, princess," he said gently.

"I really already am, baby," she replied in the same tone.

That had him grinning wide.

"A little girl," she said.

So they were on the same track.

"Dark hair and silver eyes," she continued.

Right.

They weren't on the same track.

And…silver?

His eyes were gray.

Riggs let that go too, in order to get into something more important.

"Blonde and blue-eyed," he retorted.

"That's not dominant," she reminded him.

"You think the Russian won't out?" he asked.

She started laughing, and through it said, "If you put it that way."

Riggs finished their sandwiches.

After they ate them, it sucked, but they didn't have time to fit in a quickie before he had to go pick up Ledger.

But after they got back, and his kid had a snack, they did their first organized family activity, and worked with Gia.

Making sure the ones he cared about could use the resource he'd bought to keep them safe might not been the activity he would have chosen.

But it was awesome all the same.